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EOL Seminar: Publishing Data – Do the Outcomes Justify the Efforts?

Dr. Dave Carlson

Earth System Science Data

As organizations at institutional, national and international levels promote or require open access to data, the act of formal data publication seems to offer a useful mechanism, in large part because of its intentional similarity - submit, review, revise, publish - to scientific publication. The Earth System Science Data journal, started during the International Polar Year 2007-2008, offers five years of data publication experience and outcomes. We now better understand the efforts required of all parties, the differences that arise from publishing a data set in comparison to publishing a science paper, and the challenges that data publication presents to science and to data management. We also understand substantial and, in some cases, unanticipated benefits in terms of compilation, access and exposure of complex data sets and of growing opportunities for synergy among published data products. From an overview of ESSD processes and products and with a few specific examples I will argue that outcomes do, and will increasingly, justify the efforts.